I’m madder than a linguist whose cat has got his tongue over the fact that too many words are used too often and it is starting to drive me crazy.
Look, you all know exactly what I am talking (or, in this case, writing) about: the absolute overuse of the word “amazing” by everyone of Joan Rivers guests on that fashion show I’m hooked on.
Folks, am I the only one that I noticed that during the Academy Awards Oscars red-carpet interviews, each and every actor (both male and female) used the word “Amazing” in every response? And the same goes for all the other red carpet interviews on all those other award shows that don’t give out the coveted “Carmine,” including (but not limited to) the People’s Choice Award, the Foreign Press Award, the Golden Globe awards, the Tony Randall awards, etc. etc. etc. ad infinitum and ad nauseam!
And that’s why I love to watch the British shows on the Channel 13 on the Zenith in the living room — because those people know how to speak the mother tongue! It is so refreshing to listen to those blokes pronounce words the way they were meant to be pronounced, and used them in the ways the ways they was meant to be used!
That brings me to the crust of this column (the crust being the browned outer layer that needs to be cut off before it is served to me): the teaching to our children the American interpretation of our language.
Allow me to digress at this point and point out that by the time your read this, I will have already graced an outstanding educator, administrator, and teacher, Rosalia Bacarella, the principal of PS 199, with BWECC!’s Carmine Award for School Leadership at our 53rd Annual Gala that took place on March 19 at the amazing El Caribe Country Club! Here’s her amazing stats, broken down for you in the way only Carmine know how:
Rosalia Bacarella started her career in education as a fifth grade teacher in Corona, Queens. She was accepted into the New York City Leadership Academy and became principal of PS 199, the Frederick Wachtel School in September 2007. During the last seven years, she has worked with the dedicated and talented teachers and staff of PS 199 to build a professional learning community committed to providing all students with the knowledge and skills they will need to be successful in their future college and professional careers.
Prior to her career in education, Rosalia had a successful career in business. She started her business career in corporate and marketing communications for NYNEX (now Verizon), where she served in a variety of capacities including assistant director of media relations and director of benefits communications. She went on to work with an early pioneer of the Interweb, which was acquired by America Online, and then co-founded and served as CEO of iClick, a technology company which built one of the first web-based applications for employee benefits self-service.
Upon leaving the business world, she was inspired to dedicate her life to education by her husband and family.
Rosalia’s family immigrated to the United States from Italy when she was 4 years old and, like many immigrant families, her parents understood that education is the key to achieving the American dream.
Her husband, Stephen Galizia, is a lifelong educator with almost 25 years as a middle-school teacher, guidance counselor, and administrator in the New York City Department of Education. They instilled their love of learning into their two children, Marissa and Matthew, who are now building their own careers. Rosalia holds a bachelor of arts in communication arts and journalism from Iona College and an masters in education from St. John’s University.
Rosalia strongly enforces the mission of PS 199, which is to instill a lifelong love of learning and to foster self-esteem in every child. In addition, faculty there strives to work with parents to develop the social, educational, and emotional needs of all children so that they will be able to meet the challenge of the future. Literacy, staff there said, is the fundamental skill in a well-rounded education, which is essential in order for children to become law-abiding, contributing members of society.
Screech at you next week!
